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Doc Stats: The MA Department of Correction (DOC) by the Number
Prepared by: Angela Antoniewicz
August 2004(The Governor’s Commission on Corrections Reform Report (June, 2004) contains a wealth of statistics, many more than can be presented on two pages. Some of the more extreme numbers are without context or with incomplete context, making their significance questionable. This sheet uses those statistics for which a context exists, or can be provided).
Number of minimum-security facilities in operation before June 2002: 10
Number of minimum-security facilities in operation today: 5
Number of minimum-security and pre-release beds lost due to facilities closing since June 2002: 632
Massachusetts’ rank in staff-to-inmate ratio in the nation: 2nd (1:2)
Federal prison staff-to-inmate ratio: 1:4.3[i]
Increase in staffing expenditures since 1995, adjusting for inflation: 29% ($200 to $312 million)
Average time served in Massachusetts (MA) state prison: 5 years
Average cost of incarcerating offenders in MA: $43,000 per person per year
Cost of housing a maximum-security inmate in MA annually: $48,000
Cost to supervise one person on parole per year: $4,000
Percent of inmates housed in maximum-security facilities in 1994: 9%
Percent of inmates housed in minimum-security facilities in 1994: 23%
Percentage increase of inmates housed in maximum-security facilities in 2004: 211%
Percentage decrease of inmates housed in minimum-security facilities in 2004: 209%
Percent of inmates released directly from maximum-security facilitiesin 1990: 5%
Percent of inmates released directly from minimum-security facilities in 1990: 57%
Percentage increase of inmates released directly from maximum-security facilities in 2002: 240%
Percentage decrease of inmates released directly from minimum-security facilities in 2002: 220%
Percent of inmates released from maximum-security convicted of a new offense within 3 years: 58%
Percent of inmates released from pre-release facilities convicted of a new offense within 3 years: 37%
Percent of inmates released directly from maximum-security prisons in 2002:12%
Percent of inmates released directly from North Carolina maximum-security prisons in 2002: 3%
Percent of inmates released directly from Texan maximum-security prisons in 2002: 5.8%
Percent of inmates released directly from Oregon maximum-security prisons in 2002:4.4%
Percent of all MA inmates restricted by statute from participating in pre-release programs: 84%
Percent of inmates who are not eligible for pre-release programs because of a drug offense: 16%
Budget of the DOC for state prisons in 2004: $428 million
Increase in the DOC’s operating expenditures since 1994, adjusted for inflation: 23%
Massachusetts’ rank in annual operating costs per inmate: 3rd (behind Maine & Rhode Island)[ii]
Percent of the MA DOC’s total budget devoted to labor costs: 73%
Nationwide percent devoted to the same DOC labor costs: 65%
Massachusetts’ rank in correctional officers’ (COs’) salaries in 2003: 2nd (behind New Jersey)[iii]
Increase in COs’ salaries since 1992: 70% to 77%
Average percent increase in all MA wage earners’ salaries since 1992: 42.3%[iv]
Salaries of MA COs (Levels I, II, III) in 1992, excluding benefits and overtime: $35,386 -- $40,531
Salaries of MA COs in 2003, excluding benefits and overtime: $59,919 – $71,946
Average number of paid days off per year per COs: 52
Average number of paid days off for 15 or more years of service nationally: 25.9[v]
Average number of paid sick leave days for COs: 17.5 days (5 unsubstantiated)
Average sick leave for Federal Bureau of Prison COs: 5.25 days
Average sick leave for California – the state with the largest prison system: 12.75 days
Percent of inmates without a high school diploma or GED at the start of their sentence in 2002: 47%
Percent who had not made it past the 8th grade in 2002: 14%
Number of full-time teachers laid off due to cut-backs in prison education in 2001: 36
Number of inmates needing a GED in 2002: 4,000
Number of inmates enrolled in a GED program in 2002: 321
Percent of inmates participating in any educational program in 2002: 17% (1,600)
Decrease in female inmates participating in family services since 2000: 60%
Percent decrease in recidivism rates of inmates participating in education programs: 25% - 50%[vi],[vii]
Percent of DOC budget for inmate programs: 3% ($14.2 million)
Decrease in inmate education & training budget since 2001: 43% ($5.33 to $3.72 million)
Massachusetts inmate population testing positive for HIV: 2.75% - 3.5%
Massachusetts residents infected with HIV/AIDS: .23%[viii]
Massachusetts’ rank in rate of reported HIV infection among inmates: 7th highest[ix]
MA inmates testing positive for Hepatitis C: 30%
MA residents infected with Hepatitis C: 1.55%[x]
MA inmates with an open mental health case: 22%
Percent of female inmates with an open mental health case: 65%
Percent of Massachusetts inmates who are female: 6%
Percent of capacity at MCI-Framingham (level 4) – the sole MA state prison for women – in 2003: 123%[xi]
Percent of capacity in the Awaiting Trial Unit at MCI-Framingham in 2003: 288%11
Number of county houses of correction that do not have facilities for women: 7 (of 13)
Percent of Massachusetts inmates who are Hispanic: 27%
Percent of MA DOC employees who are Hispanic: 3%
Percent of Federal inmates who are Hispanic: 32.1%[xii]
Percent of Federal prison staff who are Hispanic: 11.0%12
MA inmates who do not speak English as their primary language: 18%
MA inmates who have Spanish as their primary language: 15%
MA DOC employees who can speak any language besides English: 7%
All statistics taken from the Governor’s Commission on Correction Reform Report except those noted here.
[1] Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1999). www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cj99.pdf
[1] Bureau of Justice Statistics. (June 2004). www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/spe01.pdf
[1] Bureau of Labor Statistics. (May 2003). http://www.bls.gov/oes/2003/may/oes333012.htm
[1] Not adjusted for inflation percent for MA residents, extrapolated from the Report, p. 23.
[1] Society for Human Resource Management. (‘00).
[1] Toller, W.E. & O’Malley, D.E. (Winter ‘03). Education Reintegration at Hampden County.
http://salary.com/benefits/layouthtmls/bnfl_display_nocat_Ser27_Par65.html
[1] Massachusetts Public Health Association. (July ‘04).
.
[1] Massachusetts Public Health Association. (October ‘03).
.
[1] Massachusetts Public Health Association.
[1] Massachusetts Department of Correction. (April ‘04). http://www.mass.gov/doc/pdfs/1st_04.pdf
[1] Bureau of Prisons. (May ‘04). http://www.usa-people-search.com/content-prison-facts-and-statistics.aspx